Phone-scoping Practise

Thursday October 1

A pretty poor moth-ing session at Cley this morning. The Centre trap was OK, both marsh traps not worth putting out. It could be the last session this year too - unless Bernard puts the Centre trap out next week. Carl is off to Corfu for two weeks and then starts his winter job at Thursford. Cley only employ him for part of the year and he puts the traps out and recovers them for us.

The highlight was a 'first for Norfolk' micro brought in by David N, found in a pile of bricks in Norwich by Rob L. A  Tachystola acroxantha .  Distinctive for a Micro.......

Taken from book

Such a lovely morning, we  walked to bird the pools from Daukes, for which  a scope is essential in order to scan the far reaches of Pat's Pool. Time to use the IPhone and its Kowa scope adaptor which fit easily into a gilet pocket. Plenty of handsome winter plumaged Black-tailed Godwit on which to practice

Up to its eyeballs........

and a group of six distant Greenshanks, there were eight in total. 

A lone Snipe flew in and just as suddenly, disappeared into the undergrowth. Four Bearded Tits gave up pinging, rose and whirled away east.

Lapwing, Teal and an unnoticed Dunlin

The Redshank was nearer but very active.

Driving out at Salthouse, a Kingfisher made its arrow straight, wingless - looking flight, west along the dyke which transects the road. It must have been perched at the bridge. Damn. 

Much of the low growth along the marsh has turned a wonderful deep brown/red. Glasswort (Samphire)  I believe. 
The fishing Little Egret against this background was difficult to resist.

I learned to-day that phonescoping photographs are sharper when both scope focussing and photography are done with my reading glasses on !!